Sept 29
Just another day on the Mississippi.
We’re actually making good progress getting
down the rivers having now covered 522 miles since leaving Chicago.
Illinois River is behind us and only one more
day on the Mississippi before turning upriver onto the Ohio.
The Ohio watershed hasn’t received the
rainfall that they got on the Missouri and Mississippi, so we’ll only be
fighting a minimal current as we go up stream.
The Mississippi is
currently 17 feet over normal and projected to crest in a few more days at 22
feet.
Almost to flood stage I
believe.
All this extra water has
certainly aided our speed but that’s been about the only advantage.
The debris and turbulence have been almost
treacherous at times.
Swirls, upsurges, wirlpools, chop, we got 'em all
A decently long
day covering almost 70 miles and a nice anchorage called the Little Diversion
Channel.
Out of the current, well
protected, deep water, and good mud to hold the anchor.
We had to fire up the generator once the
anchor was set.
A/C was mandatory with
this continuing heat wave.
Checked the
weather report around noon and it was 92 with a “feels like” temp of 99.
Tranquility of the Little Diversion Channel anchorage
At least coming down the river we had a bit
of a southerly breeze to make it tolerable. Still, I had to check my calendar
to make sure it really is the end of September because it sure doesn’t feel
like fall yet.
Journey for Sept 29
Sept 30
Another morning of meandering down the Mississippi at an
astonishing speed.
Still lots of
current but either debris is easing up or I’ve just gotten used to it and only
worry about the largest logs and trees.
Biggest excitement today was passing a large 4x5 tow (20 barges
connected 4 across and 5 deep) in one of the horseshoe bends.
He was downbound like us so was making good
speed.
Asked that we pass him “on the 2’s”
(tow captain speak for his port side) which was the outside edge of the channel
with the strongest current.
Hammered
the throttle to get past him before the next big bend.
Nebo says we hit a top speed of 16.4 MPH!!
Passing the Dennis Rottroff "on the 2's"
Shortly afterwards we made the turn onto the
Ohio River and past Cairo where you could see its much clearer water joining
the Mississippi.
We were now upbound and
traveling against the current.
At least
the Ohio is flowing at a much more leisurely .5 knot so we’re still able to
keep about a 7 knot speed by revving the engine up a bit.
Getting ready to enter the clean waters of the Ohio River
A distinct color change as we enter the Ohio
At anchor again tonight – bit of an
unprotected area on the side of the river but well off the main channel.
Looks like
we remain in the grasp of a major heat wave. Temperatures for at least the next
few days are expected to remain in record breaking 90+ degree territory.
Hot and hazy on the open water does at least provide for a pretty sunset.
Two
observations today.
First, there seems
to be limited wildlife along the Mississippi.
We got used to seeing flocks of storks and routine sightings of bald eagles,
egrets and herons as we came down the Illinois.
Just haven’t seen any on this river – maybe we’re just too far away from
the riverbanks to see them.
Second
observation is the deplorable shape of our bridge infrastructure.
Whether railroad bridges or road bridges they
all look ancient, unkept and about ready to rust away and fall into the river.
Journey for Sept 30
(Note the yellow line around the horseshoe - over 15mph!!)
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